1 Thessalonians 5 – Part 1 (Kate and Eleni)

by Opcomm · Published April 26, 2011 · Updated March 17, 2016

Teaching 4.26.11
1 Thessalonians 5:11
- “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
  - Keep on encouraging each other!
  - Having a good time hanging out with each other
  - They were being positive all the time
1 Thessalonians 4:9
- “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;”
  - Paul does not have to teach them how to love
  - God has already taught them to love
  - They are loving from their heart
  - They are focusing on others rather than themselves
1 Thessalonians 4:10
- “For indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia but we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,”
  - This joyous time that they are enjoying with each other is spreading everywhere
  - This was HUGE!
    - Macedonia is HUGE!
  - It is so important to love one another
    - This is different from other worldly things
    - We are meant to be different
Like 28 Days Later…
- Animal activists wanted to save the monkeys that were being injected with the rage virus
- When they set them free, they monkeys turned on them and bit them
- Spreading this virus is very easy and it spreads very quickly
- We are kind of like this…
  - This “rage” virus is tearing us apart
    - Road rage
    - Marriage (50% of marriages end in divorce)
    - Depression (20% of the population is depressed, need medication)
- What our society calls “love” is not actually love!
  - Look at the suicide rate!
  - This sucks!!!
- How does society solve these problems?
  - Go to church every Sunday?
  - Sing a few hymns?
  - Say a few prayers?
  - Christians our age walk away from the Lord because they do not care about this
- How does God solve these rage problems?
  - God is telling us to love…
    - Create loving relationships…
    - Care about others…
    - Give a shit about others!!
    - Serving others…
      - “Let me help you!”
      - “How can I help you?”
      - “What can I do to make something easier for you?”
  - Cannot keep chanting by yourself saying, “I’ll learn how to love”
    - You need to GO OUT THERE and do it!
  - There is a commitment
    - You need to go in there and stay in there
    - Keep loving others, even when they are horrible to you
Three Key Things
- Need a relationship with God
  - “I know I am a screw up, help me be relational”
- Godly leadership
  - You learn how to love people and work with them
- Changed lives
  - Lives will be different
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
- “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”
  - Talking to the Thessalonians about what it is to be a leader and how to respond
  - Three mistranslations
    - Leaders have charge over you
      - Actually to stand in front of you
      - They are protectors
      - 1 Peter 5:2
        
        “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;”
        
        Do not lead for money
        
        Matthew 23:8-10
        
        “”But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.”
        
        Not supposed to have special names
        
        Appreciate means to actually know
        
        We should get to know our teachers
        
        “I know…”
        
        Know who they are and what is going on with them
        
        Not to just appreciate them
        
        Instruction actually means to admonish
        
        Piercing someone’s heart with the truth
What do you think being a good leader means?
- Setting an example for others
  - How to go about in life
  - Living out what you say so others can follow
- Makes a goal higher than themselves and make it beneficial to all
  - Group focus
- To serve
  - Leaders are here to serve!
    - To labor and to work amongst us
    - Showing love for someone
      - Showing people how to love
  - Helping restore people
    - Leaders come from the world broken up
    - They give up what they want a lot of the time
      - Many times they do this without getting anything back
      - It hurts when people you love walk away
  - Somebody who sticks in there even though it hurts
    - You continue to go out there and love people
    - You know it might hurt, but you keep going
- Letting people know the truth
  - You cannot be scared
  - If you do not they will keep walking down a destructive path
  - This is a big thing that separates a leader from a non-leader
  - Cannot tell them just the truth, but must be loving and caring
  - Goal is to not show off or be better than others
    - “I’m right and you’re wrong!”
    - NO!
  - All about how a leader can benefit the person
    - Not about what I can get
    - “How can I love them?”
- Know how to apply the Word around you
  - Need to know what you are talking about
  - Knowing the Word
  - Being able to talk about it and teach with it
- Need to have a vision and direct the group
  - Help them move forward
- Protectors of the group
  - A lot of people in the world want to take advantage of the group or bully them
  - More importantly: protect against the Devil
    - Satan wants to get people away from the Lord
- Leaders are in the Lord
  - They are appointed by God
  - They ARE leading
  - God recognizes when people are doing what he asks
How is that different from leading in America?
- Business world
  - Power hungry
  - Not wanting to do the grunt work
  - Stepping on anyone you can to get to the top
  - Donald Trump
- Goal is for the self, not the group
  - Competition
  - Get yourself to the top?
    - No!
    - Get as many people to the top as possible!
- Become less relational
  - All about the privacy
  - Apparently it is not okay to get into other people’s lives
- Being on your own
  - Not a part of anything bigger
  - You do not really experience leadership if you are alone
How are we supposed to respond to leaders?
- Hebrews 13:17
  - “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
    - We need to value their role in our lives
    - If they are doing a pretty decent job, why oppose them?
    - We need to live in peace with our leaders and each other
      - Please do not eat your teachers
      - Please do not fight your leaders
        
        They are here for your benefit
        
        Leaders will mess up
        
        But there is a way to go about telling them lovingly
        
        Being a peace maker is not rolling over and playing dead
        
        You address the issues in a peaceful way
        
        Everybody has issues and problems
        
        But we need to know how to address them